DENVER (AP)
— Jamal Murray kept imploring the crowd to get louder and louder
with each trip down the floor.
As if the
Nuggets point guard even needed to. His play was already rocking
the arena.
Murray
scored 34 points, hitting six of Denver’s 16 3-pointers, and the
Nuggets sprinted past the Phoenix Suns 125-107 on Saturday night in
Game 1 of their second-round series.
“He’s a bad
man,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
Any
response to that adulation?
“Thanks?”
Murray said. “Appreciate it. … I’m just playing my game. … I’m
doing whatever it takes to win.”
And maybe
show a nation that doesn’t always get to watch the Nuggets — you
know, because they’re usually on so late — what the players have
known all season: They’re talented and worthy of their top seed in
the Western Conference. They don’t mind if the Suns, as the fourth
seed, are the trendy pick to beat them, either.
“We’re
going to keep doing what we’re doing, keep proving everybody
wrong,” Murray said.
Reigning
back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had 24 points and 19 rebounds,
while Aaron Gordon finished with 23 points. But this was the Murray
Show, where he went 6 of 10 from 3-point land and frequently
exhorted for more noise from the already raucous crowd.
“Let’s be
honest, some of the shots he hit tonight I don’t think anybody
could have stopped him,” Suns coach Monty Williams said.
Kevin
Durant scored 29 points and grabbed 14 boards for the Suns, with
Devin Booker adding 27 points and Chris Paul 11. Booker averaged
37.2 points in a first-round series win over the Los Angeles
Clippers.
“I thought
that they were just more physical, played with more force,”
Williams said. “We’ve got to regroup and do a much better job of
playing with pace on offense.”
Game 2 is
Monday night in Denver.
This is a
different sort of playoff series than two years ago, when the Suns
swept the Nuggets in the second round. Back then, Denver was
without Murray after he tore his ACL.
Now
healthy, Murray is flashing his 2020 form inside the NBA bubble
that helped Denver advance to the Western Conference finals.
“Jamal just
continues to add to the legend of playoff Jamal,” Malone said.
Murray had
the play of the night when he stole a pass, split defenders Paul
and Durant at top speed and knocked in a layup high off the glass.
It brought the capacity crowd to its feet.
The dynamic
point guard was far from done energizing the fans, hitting a
3-pointer with just under 7 minutes remaining. He implored them for
more noise, even holding a hand to his ear.
Leading
106-95 with 7:40 remaining, the Nuggets went on a 14-0 run to put
away the game. Denver led by as much as 25 and improved to 38-7 at
home through the regular season and playoffs.
Durant cut
off a question about whether he was surprised by the Nuggets.
Because
he’s not.
“They’re
the No. 1 seed for a reason. They got a two-time MVP. They’ve got a
deep team. I’m not surprised,” Durant said. “We’ve got our work cut
out for us.”
The
difference was the 3-point line, where the Nuggets outscored the
Suns by a 48-21 margin. That and turnovers, where the Suns had 16,
including seven by Durant.
“I’ve got
to be way more careful with the ball,” Durant said. “I’ve to look
to either shoot the ball or make the correct pass. … I dang got
near half our turnovers. We’ll be fine. I think we’ve just got to
play with confidence, shoot with confidence and see what happens
next game.”
TIP-INS
Suns:
Williams used his challenge early — with 55.4 seconds left in the
first quarter — when Booker was called for a charge on a made a
basket. It paid off as the call was overturned and Booker awarded a
free throw, which he made. … Deandre Ayton scored 14 points. …
Durant has 4,730 playoff points to move closer to passing Karl
Malone (4,761) seventh place on the NBA’s postseason points
leaderboard.
Nuggets:
Malone called a timeout 32 seconds into the second half to settle
his team down. Malone said the conversation was simple: “Wake up,”
he recounted. … Bruce Brown had 14 points.
PAUL
PRAISE
As Paul
approaches his 38th birthday next week, Malone said the one thing
that hasn’t changed over the years is Paul’s elite
competitiveness.
“He’ll be
55 years old, playing in a rec league back in North Carolina, and
he’s going to be the same guy,” Malone said. “The guy hates to
lose, ultra-competitive and one of the greatest leaders I’ve ever
been around. … No matter what stage of his career, he still finds
a way to impact winning at a high level.”
